I wonder what you were thinking 5 minutes ago? I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling I’m not the only person who deals with a racing mind, thinking about any number of issues at the same time! We do seem to have an amazing ability to flit around quite a diverse range of subjects – whether it be dwelling on the past, worrying about the future, dealing with a million distractions or trying to focus on what we are meant to be focussing on!
I once heard a speaker asking whether people would like to have screens above their heads so that all their thoughts could be projected for the whole world to see! I think most people would have a form of motion sickness watching the speed that different thoughts flit through my mind! It’s when we are praying that this can become even more acute. So often we sit down to pray or read the Bible, only to discover that our minds are still racing at an alarming rate over a multitude of thoughts. Simply trying to stop them is of little help – but replacing the vacuum with something else may be more helpful.
I once heard a speaker asking whether people would like to have screens above their heads so that all their thoughts could be projected for the whole world to see! I think most people would have a form of motion sickness watching the speed that different thoughts flit through my mind! It’s when we are praying that this can become even more acute. So often we sit down to pray or read the Bible, only to discover that our minds are still racing at an alarming rate over a multitude of thoughts. Simply trying to stop them is of little help – but replacing the vacuum with something else may be more helpful.
I love this passage from ‘The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass (aged 37 3/4)’, where he decides to get up early one day to meditate!
‘Started contemplating eternity at exactly 5.34 a.m. Kept my eyes shut and tried to concentrate on things going on forever and ever. Not easy. Found my thoughts drifting off to holidays, and why you don’t see those wicker waste-paper baskets any more, and what a cross between a ferret and a giraffe could possibly look like . . . I remembered what I was supposed to be thinking about. Clenched my mind and really tried hard. After about an hour, opened my eyes to check the time, it was 5.44 a.m.”
We’ve probably all been there!
‘Started contemplating eternity at exactly 5.34 a.m. Kept my eyes shut and tried to concentrate on things going on forever and ever. Not easy. Found my thoughts drifting off to holidays, and why you don’t see those wicker waste-paper baskets any more, and what a cross between a ferret and a giraffe could possibly look like . . . I remembered what I was supposed to be thinking about. Clenched my mind and really tried hard. After about an hour, opened my eyes to check the time, it was 5.44 a.m.”
We’ve probably all been there!
I would like to suggest that encounterprayer can help us in our personal prayer lives as it provides us with three focal points
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Directly and deliberately focussing on each of these gives us something concrete on which to set our minds, rather than simply trying to find God ‘somewhere out there’. It doesn’t matter if you only spend a few minutes on each point – it’s better than being overcome with guilt for an extended time of daydreaming!
If you find it hard to start, try playing the meditation on our website - https://www.encounterprayer.net/meditation - or listen to it on our new app - https://www.encounterprayer.net/download-our-app
Try it and see!
John Ryeland
Try it and see!
John Ryeland
